Pakistan carried out air and drone strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan on Thursday, September 24, 2026, after Pakistan said drones launched from Afghan territory entered its airspace a day earlier. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes targeted locations used to launch and store drones.
Tarar said Pakistan’s air defence systems detected, tracked and neutralised eight drones that entered Pakistani airspace on Wednesday. Pakistani security sources said four of the drones were brought down near the Torkham border, while four others were intercepted in mountainous areas near Kohat.
In a statement on Thursday, Tarar described the strikes as a response carried out under Pakistan’s stated right to self-defence. He said the targets were military objectives that Pakistan had identified as being directly connected to the attempted drone attacks. He also said Pakistan did not seek escalation and remained committed to regional peace, dialogue and constructive engagement.
The strikes were reported in several Afghan provinces, including Kandahar, Paktia and Khost. A spokesperson for the Khost governor said strikes were conducted in several areas of Khost province. Afghan officials also reported strikes in Kandahar and Paktia.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government disputed Pakistan’s account of the events. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid denied that the Afghan government had launched drones against Pakistan and condemned the Pakistani strikes. Afghan authorities said the strikes killed four civilians across the affected provinces.
The reported civilian deaths add to casualties from another round of Pakistani airstrikes earlier in the week. On September 21, Pakistan said it had conducted strikes in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region and reported that 28 militants had been killed. Afghan authorities and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported that three civilians were killed in those strikes.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated significantly amid continuing disputes over militant activity along their shared border. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban authorities of allowing militant groups to operate from Afghan territory and carry out attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban government has rejected the allegations and said militancy inside Pakistan is an internal matter.
The latest escalation follows an attack on a police facility in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last week that killed at least 24 people, according to Pakistani officials. Pakistan has linked its recent military operations along the Afghan border to attacks by militant groups operating from or near Afghan territory.
Pakistan’s latest strikes represent another escalation between the two neighbouring countries after months of tensions and renewed fighting. The two sides have exchanged accusations over cross-border attacks, militant safe havens and military operations. Afghanistan has protested previous Pakistani strikes, while Pakistan has maintained that it will take action against threats it says originate from Afghan territory.
As of Thursday, Pakistan had confirmed the strikes and described them as limited military operations against locations connected to the drone attacks. Afghanistan had confirmed strikes on its territory and reported four civilian deaths. The two governments continued to give differing accounts of responsibility for the drone incident and the circumstances surrounding the latest escalation.
